The importance of inducing extracorporeal circulation that is as physiologic as possible has long been recognized. A pulsatile pump system was conceived in the mid-1950s by heart surgeon Selwyn Roy McCabe. Dr. McCabe worked on a tricuspid valve, which evolved to a 2-chamber pulsatile pump with a number of unique features. The doctor envisioned that such a system could allow quality time for corrective surgery and, ultimately, could prolong life support. Dr. McCabe, who was also trained in internal cardiology and physiology, felt that accurate duplication of blood pressure and flow patterns could have significant advantages to both the major vital organs and to the microcirculation.
The life support system conceived by Dr. McCabe was successfully tested on an adult dog in Bethesda, Md. in early 1957. A neonatal/infant model, the Pediatric Pulsatile Pump, was developed in the early 1970's and a number were sold for research purposes with very successful results.
No accepted method exists for quantifying “pulsatile flow” with respect to extracorporeal pumps. Many systems claiming “pulsatile flow” exhibit physical parameters that are, at best, of indifferent efficacy and, at worst, harmful. Accordingly, it may be possible to improve hemodynamic emulation of natural circulatory blood pressure and flow patterns.